Thursday, February 23, 2012

Belated Trade Thoughts

People have been asking me what I thought of the Gill for Geoffrion trade. Being busy, I didn't have time to post. But with a free minute, thought I'd save future questions by providing my answer here.
What to think?

I liked the trade.

What the Canadiens gave up in Hal Gill was little. And, let's be clear, Gill was no longer of great use the team. When he arrived, Gill was a new leader who could be used for a team in pressure games and pressure situations to deliver some impressive defensive minutes.

With his contract expiring, and the Canadiens unlikely to face a game of the magnitude of those from Gill's first season for quite some time, the team gave up a solid penalty killer.

And the timing was good. Because Gill can still be that valuable specialist that he was for the Canadiens for someone else, for a team where one PK makes the difference between winning and losing something important.

The return

I also liked the trade because of the return. I think prior to the trade it would have been sensible to suggest that Gill might land a second round pick plus something else. He did, but then somehow the Canadiens also pried Blake Geoffrion from the Nashville organization.

I think all of us who recently watched the year of ceremonies probably felt a moment or two of nostalgic romance when we heard this trade. Son of a player, grandson and namesake of an all-time hero, great-grandson of one of the first superstars of the game.

Of course, Blake Gefrrion is a player in his own right too. A Hobey Baker award as captain of the Badgers attests to that. It is foolhardy to think he's here to put the Morenz-Geoffrion treatment on the current Habs, yet his play suggest that he could easily make the lineup of the current team.

That's something. And quite something for Hal Gill to return in a trade.

Yes, overall, a good trade. Not the trade that spells massive overhaul, but one of those nice incremental moves that when accumulated show a move in the right direction.